Site: Cleveland, Tenn. (Olympic Field)
Score: No. 24 Madonna 4, Rio Grande 1
Score: No. 24 Madonna 4, No. 3 Lee 3
Records: MU (3-1), URG (4-3) LU (7-1)
Next MU event: Friday, March 1 – vs. Evangel (Auburndale, Fla.) – 4:30 p.m.

CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Using a pair of quality starts from seniors Josh Deeg (Lake Orion, Mich. / Lake Orion) and Jeremy Gooding (Livonia, Mich. / Divine Child Catholic), the No. 24-ranked Madonna University baseball team wrapped up the Tennessee Valley Invitational with a 4-1 win over Rio Grande in the day's opener before pulling off an early season upset with a 4-3 victory over No. 3-ranked Lee on Saturday (Feb. 9) at Olympic Field.

Rio Grande
The Crusaders fell behind 1-0 after an inning as Rio Grande got to senior righty Josh Deeg for a run in the bottom of the first with two outs. Deeg struck out the first two batters of the inning before surrendering a walk to Isaac Franklin. A hit batter and a single by Vincent Perry scored Franklin to give the Red Storm an early lead.

MU took advantage of a pair of walks and a hit batter to score its first run of the game in the top of the third as senior right fielder Brad Lineberry (Canton, Mich. / Plymouth) reached on a one-out single to right center and moved to second on a walk to junior shortstop Victor Barron (Fowlerville, Mich. / Fowlerville). Senior third baseman Justin Cook (Dresden, Ontario / Lambton Kent Secondary) was then hit by a pitch for the third time in the last two games to load the bases for his twin brother, senior designate hitter Matthew Cook (Dresden, Ontario / Lambton Kent Secondary). The elder Cook then coaxed a walk out of Rio starter Michael Deitsch to force in Lineberry and tie the game at 1-1.

The game remained 1-1 through the next three innings with both sides combining to strand five runners and send the game to the top of the seventh even at one.

Senior left fielder Jeff Beckles (Southfield, Mich. / Lathrup) opened the inning with a single to center but was erased on a fielder's choice bunt off the bat of junior catcher Donny Holland (White Lake, Mich. / Lakeland) for the first out of the inning. Sophomore Mike Tibbits (Plymouth, Mich. / Detroit Catholic Central) ran for Holland and proceeded to steal second before coming home on a single from Lineberry for a 2-1 lead. After a pitching change by Rio, Barron followed with a single to put two on for Justin Cook. Cook reached on an error in the Rio infield that let both Lineberry and Barron score for a 4-1 lead.

Senior right hander Randall Stempek (Hartland, Mich. / Hartland) came in for his first save opportunity of the season in the bottom of the seventh and worked around a two-out walk to close out the 4-1 Madonna victory.

Lineberry went 4-for-4 at the plate with a RBI while Justin Cook drove in a pair for MU. Deeg threw the first six innings, allowing just the first inning run while striking out three, to pick up his first win of the season. Deitsch suffered the loss for Rio as four Red Storm players collected base hits in the loss.

Lee
Madonna senior righty Jeremy Gooding squared off with Lee's Clint Terry, a 36th round draft pick of the San Francisco Giants last spring, in MU's final game of the weekend and it was Gooding coming out on top in a 4-3 victory to hand No. 3-ranked Lee its first loss of the season.

MU got on board in the top of the first as freshman second baseman Shane Dokey (Howell, Mich. / Brighton) led off with a walk and stole second before moving to third on a wild pitch. Two batters later Dokey came home on a ground out by Justin Cook for a 1-0 MU lead.

Lee answered back with a run of its own in the bottom of the frame as the first two Flames reached on singles before Gooding struck out the next two batters. A two-out single by Jordan Stewart plated the first Lee run of the day and evened the game at 1-1.

The Crusaders tacked on three more runs in the top of the second to take a 4-1 lead. Junior shortstop Victor Barron led off the frame with a double to right before scoring one batter later when a ball off the bat of senior left fielder Steve Pelletier (Farmington Hills, Mich. / Harrison) was misplayed in the Flames' infield for a 2-1 lead. Pelletier advanced to second on an infield single by junior catcher Donny Holland and scored on a Dokey single to left for a 3-1 lead. Sophomore Mike Tibbits – who was running for Holland – came home on a Lineberry double to right center for a 4-1 lead.

Gooding seemed to settle in from there, with the possible exception coming in the fourth  inning, but the 2011 NAIA All-American stranded runners at second and third to keep MU on top by three.

MU turned to senior Austin Delmotte (Romeo, Mich. / Romeo) to close out the last of the seventh and after hitting the first batter he saw, Delmotte got the next two Flames to go down in order. Delmotte then ran into trouble when Corey Davis singled and he hit Derrick Pitts to load the bases. Pinch hitter Danny Canela snuck a single into the hole at second to score a run and make it 4-2.

Senior righty Randall Stempek was brought in with the bases still loaded and proceeded to walk the first batter he faced to force in a run and make it 4-3. Stempek then ended the game by getting a grounder back to the mound and tagging first base on his own to pick up his second save of the day in the 4-3 win.

Dokey led MU with a pair of base hits and joined Justin Cook and Lineberry with a RBI in the win. Gooding went the first six, allowing just one run and one walk while striking out seven for his first win of the season.

Terry took the loss for Lee after giving up four runs (one earned) in two innings of work. Mark Silva led Lee with two hits at the plate and three different Flames drove in runs.

MU now takes the next two weeks off before traveling to Florida to take part in the RussMatt Invitational. The Crusaders open their stay in the Sunshine State on March 1 with a split double header against Evangel and Trinity International.